A Painted House: A Novel: John Grisham: 9780345532046: Amazon.com: Books Read more From Publishers Weekly Who needs lawyers? Not Grisham, in his captivating new novel, now between hardcovers after serialization in the Oxford American. Here there are hardscrabble farmers instead, and dirt-poor itinerant workers and a seven-year-old boy who grows up fast in a story as rich in conflict and incident as any previous Grisham and as nuanced as his very best. It's September 1952 in rural Arkansas when young narrator Luke Chandler notes that "the hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day." These folk are in Black Oak for the annual harvest of the cotton grown on the 80 acres that the Chandlers rent. The three generations of the Chandler family treat their workers more kindly than most farmers do, including engaging in the local obsession--playing baseball--with them, but serious trouble arises among the harvesters nonetheless.

Most of it centers around Hank Spruill, a giant hillbilly with an equally massive temper, who one night in town beats a man dead and who throughout the book rubs up against a knife-wielding Mexican who is dating Hank's 17-year-old sister on the sly, leading to another murder. In fact, there's a mess of trouble in Luke's life, from worries about his uncle Ricky fighting in Korea to concerns about the nearby Latcher family and its illegitimate newborn baby, who may be Ricky's son. And then there are the constant fears about the weather, as much a character in this novel as any human, from the tornado that storms past the farm to the downpours that eventually flood the fields, ruining the crop and washing Luke and his family into a new life.Grisham admirers know that this author's writing has evolved with nearly every book, from the simple mechanics that made The Firm click to the manifestations of grace that made The Testament such a fine novel of spiritual reckoning.

The mechanics are still visible here--as a nosy, spying boy, Luke serves as a nearly omnipresent eye to spur the novel along its course--but so, too, are characters that no reader will forget, prose as clean and strong as any Grisham has yet laid down and a drop-dead evocation of a time and place that mark this novel as a classic slice of Americana. Agent, David Gernert. (One-day laydown, Feb. 6)FORECAST: Will Grisham's fans miss the lawyers? Not hardly. This is a Grisham novel all the way, despite its surface departures from the legal thrillers, and it will be received as such, justifying the 2.8-million first printing. (For more on Grisham, see Book News, p. 178) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Books | John Grisham John Grisham The Whistler From John Grisham, America’s #1 bestselling author, comes the most electrifying novel of the year, a high-stakes thrill ride through the darkest corners of the Sunshine State.

We expect our judges to be honest and wise. Their integrity and impartiality are the bedrock of the entire judicial system. We trust them to ensure fair trials, to protect the rights of all litigants, to punish those who do wrong, and to oversee the orderly and efficient flow of justice. Witness to a Trial An all-new digital short story! This startling and original courtroom drama from New York Times #1 Bestseller John Grisham is the prequel to his newest legal thriller, THE WHISTLER. A judge’s first murder trial. A defense attorney in over his head. A prosecutor out for blood and glory. The accused, who is possibly innocent. And the killer, who may have just committed the perfect crime. Theodore Boone: The Scandal Thirteen-year-old Theodore Boone knows every judge, police officer, and court clerk in Strattenburg. He has even helped bring a fugitive to justice. But even a future star lawyer like Theo has to deal with statewide standardized testing. When an anonymous tip leads the school board to investigate a suspicious increase in scores at another local middle school,...

Read More A Rogue Lawyer Short Story JOHN GRISHAM’S FIRST ORIGINAL E-SHORT In this standalone prequel to his #1 bestseller ROGUE LAWYER, John Grisham tells the story of how Sebastian Rudd finally found someone he could trust to be his driver, bodyguard, law clerk, and partner. Sebastian Rudd, rogue lawyer, defends people other lawyers won’t go near. It’s controversial and dangerous work, which is why Sebastian needs his bodyguard/assistant/sidekick: Partner. So if Sebastian is just about the most unpopular lawyer in town, why is Partner so loyal to him? How did they meet? And what’s the real story of this man of few words who’s as good with a gun as he is with the law? The surprising answers are all in PARTNERS, John Grisham’s first exclusively digital short story. Rogue Lawyer On the right side of the law. Sort of. Sebastian Rudd is not your typical street lawyer. He works out of a customized bulletproof van, complete with Wi-Fi, a bar, a small fridge, fine leather chairs, a hidden gun compartment, and a heavily armed driver.

He has no firm, no partners, no associates, and only one employee, his driver, who’s also... Read More Theodore Boone: the Fugitive "Not since Nancy Drew has a nosy, crime-obsessed kid been so hard to resist." —The New York Times Thirteen-year-old Theodore Boone thought the danger had passed, but he’s about to face off against an old adversary: accused mur­derer and fugitive Pete Duffy. On a field trip to Washington, DC, Theo spots a familiar face on... Read More Gray Mountain John Grisham has a new hero . . . and she’s full of surprises The year is 2008 and Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track—until the recession hits and she gets downsized, furloughed, escorted out of the building. Samantha, though, is one of the “lucky” associates. She’s offered... Read More Sycamore Row John Grisham takes you back to where it all began . . . John Grisham's A Time to Kill is one of the most popular novels of our time.

Now we return to that famous courthouse in Clanton as Jake Brigance once again finds himself embroiled in a fiercely controversial trial-a trial that will expose old racial tensions and force Ford County to confront its tortured... Read More Theodore Boone: The Activist Theodore Boone is back, and he’s facing his most dangerous case yet. As Strattenburg sits divided over a hot political and environmental issue, Theo finds himself in the middle of the battle. When he uncovers corruption beneath the surface, Theo will confront bigger risks than ever to himself and those he loves. But even face-to-face … Read More The Racketeer Given the importance of what they do, and the controversies that often surround them, and the violent people they sometimes confront, it is remarkable that in the history of this country only four active federal judges have been murdered.Judge Raymond Fawcett has just become number five.Who is the Racketeer? And what does he have to do with the judge’s... Read More Theodore Boone: The Accused Theodore Boone is back! And he’s ready for his next big case Theo Boone might only be thirteen, but he’s already uncovered key evidence in a groundbreaking murder trial and discovered the truth behind his best friend’s abduction.

Now with the latest unfolding of events in Strattenburg, Theo will face his biggest challenge yet. Filled … Read More Calico Joe A surprising and moving novel of fathers and sons, forgiveness and redemption, set in the world of Major League Baseball… Whatever happened to Calico Joe? It began quietly enough with a pulled hamstring. The first baseman for the Cubs AAA affiliate in Wichita went down as he rounded third and headed for home.... Read More The Litigators The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too... Read More Theodore Boone: The Abduction Theodore Boone is back in a new adventure and the stakes are higher than ever. When his best friend April disappears from her bedroom in the middle of the night, no one, not even Theo Boone—who knows April better than anyone—has answers. As fear ripples through his small hometown and the police hit dead ends, … Read More The Confession An innocent man is about to be executed.

Only a guilty man can save him. For every innocent man sent to prison, there is a guilty one left on the outside. He doesn’t understand how the police and prosecutors got the wrong man, and he certainly doesn’t care. He just can’t believe his good luck. Time passes and he realizes that the mistake... Read More Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer In the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he’s only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he’s one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk—and a lot about the law. He dreams of being a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom. But Theo finds himself in … Read More Ford County: Stories In his first collection of short stories John Grisham takes us back to Ford County, Mississippi, the setting of his first novel, A Time to Kill.Wheelchair-bound Inez Graney and her two older sons, Leon and Butch, take a bizarre road trip through the Mississippi Delta to visit the youngest Graney brother, Raymond, who's been locked away on death row for eleven...

Read More The Associate If you thought Mitch McDeere was in trouble in The Firm, waituntil you meet Kyle McAvoy, The AssociateKyle McAvoy grew up in his father’s small-town law office in York, Pennsylvania. He excelled in college, was elected editor-in-chief of The Yale Law Journal, and his future has limitless potential. But Kyle has a secret, a dark one, an episode from... Read More The Appeal Politics has always been a dirty game.Now justice is, too.In a crowded courtroom in Mississippi, a jury returns a shocking verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste into a small town’s water supply, causing the worst “cancer cluster” in history. The company appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, whose nine justices... Read More Playing For Pizza Rick Dockery was the third-string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. In the AFC Championship game against Denver, to the surprise and dismay of virtually everyone, Rick actually got into the game. With a 17-point lead and just minutes to go, Rick provided what was arguably the worst single performance in the history of the NFL. Overnight, he became a...

Read More The Innocent Man John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, is his most extraordinary legal thriller yet.In the major league draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the State of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A’s, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue... Read More The Broker In his final hours in the Oval Office, the outgoing President grants a controversial last-minute pardon to Joel Backman, a notorious Washington power broker who has spent the last six years hidden away in a federal prison. What no one knows is that the President issues the pardon only after receiving enormous pressure from the CIA. It seems Backman, in his... Read More The Last Juror In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colorful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt. To the surprise and dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23 year-old college dropout, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie...

Read More Bleachers High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty.Now, as Coach Rake’s “boys” sit in... Read More The King of Torts The office of the public defender is not known as a training ground for bright young litigators. Clay Carter has been there too long and, like most of his colleagues, dreams of a better job in a real firm. When he reluctantly takes the case of a young man charged with a random street killing, he assumes it is just another of the many senseless murders... Read More The Summons Ray Atlee is a professor of law at the University of Virginia. He's forty-three, newly single, and still enduring the aftershocks of a surprise divorce. He has a younger brother, Forrest, who redefines the notion of a family's black sheep.And he has a father, a very sick old man who lives alone in the ancestral home in Clanton, Mississippi. He is known to...

Read More Skipping Christmas Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That’s just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they’ll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won’t be hosting... Read More A Painted House The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day. It was a Wednesday, early in September 1952. The Cardinals were five games behind the Dodgers with three weeks to go, and the season looked hopeless. The cotton, however, was waist-high to my father, over my head, and he and my grandfather could be heard before supper whispering words that were... Read More The Brethren Trumble is a minimum-security federal prison, a "camp," home to the usual assortment of relatively harmless criminals--drug dealers, bank robbers, swindlers, embezzlers, tax evaders, two Wall Street crooks, one doctor, at least five lawyers.And three former judges who call themselves the Brethren: one from Texas, one from California, and one from...

Read More The Testament Troy Phelan is a self-made billionaire, one of the richest men in the United States. He is also eccentric, reclusive, confined to a wheelchair, and looking for a way to die. His heirs, to no one's surprise--especially Troy's--are circling like vultures.Nate O'Riley is a high-octane Washington litigator who's lived too hard, too fast,... Read More The Street Lawyer Michael was in a hurry. He was scrambling up the ladder at Drake & Sweeney, a giant D.C. law firm with eight hundred lawyers. The money was good and getting better; a partnership was three years away. He was a rising star with no time to waste, no time to stop, no time to toss a few coins into the cups of panhandlers. No time for a conscience.But a violent... Read More The Partner They watched Danilo Silva for days before they finally grabbed him. He was living alone, a quiet life on a shady street in Brazil; a simple life in a modest home, certainly not one of luxury. Certainly no evidence of the fortune they thought he had stolen. He was much thinner and his face had been altered. He spoke a different language, and spoke it very...

Read More The Runaway Jury Every jury has a leader, and the verdict belongs to him. In Biloxi, Mississippi, a landmark tobacco trial with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake beginsroutinely, then swerves mysteriously off course. The jury is behaving strangely, and at least one juroris convinced he's being watched. Soon they... Read More The Rainmaker John Grisham's five novels -- A Time To Kill, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, and The Chamber -- have been number one best-sellers, and have a combined total of 47 million copies in print. Now, inThe Rainmaker, Grisham returns to the courtroom for the first time since A Time To Kill, and weaves a riveting tale of legal intrigue and corporate greed.... Read More The Chamber In the corridors of Chicago's top law firm:Twenty -six-year-old Adam Hall stands on the brink of a brilliant legal career. Now he is risking it all for a death-row killer and an impossible case.Maximum Security Unit, Mississippi State Prison:Sam Cayhall is a former Klansman and unrepentant racist now facing the death penalty for a fatal bombing in 1967....

Read More The Client In a weedy lot on the outskirts of Memphis, two boys watch a shiny Lincoln pull up to the curb...Eleven-year-old Mark Sway and his younger brother were sharing a forbidden cigarette when a chance encounter with a suicidal lawyer left Mark knowing a bloody and explosive secret: the whereabouts of the... Read More The Pelican Brief In suburban Georgetown a killer's Reeboks whisper on the front floor of a posh home... In a seedy D.C. porno house a patron is swiftly garroted to death... The next day America learns that two of its Supreme Court justices have been assassinated. And in New Orleans, a young law student prepares a legal... Read More The Firm At the top of his class at Harvard Law, he had his choice of the best in America. He made a deadly mistake. When Mitch McDeere signed on with Bendini, Lambert & Locke of Memphis, he thought he and his beautiful wife, Abby, were on their way. The firm leased him a BMW, paid off his school loans,...

Read More A Time to Kill Before The Firm and The Pelican Brief made him a superstar, John Grisham wrote this riveting story of retribution and justice -- at last it's available in a Doubleday hardcover edition. In this searing courtroom drama, best-selling author John Grisham probes the savage depths of racial violence...as... Read More Join Our Mailing List Book Review: A Painted House by John Grisham | Scott Holleran Book Review: A Painted House by John Grisham By Scott Holleran on April 18, 2012 in Books , Writings [March 25, 2001] John Grisham’s latest novel, a nostalgic coming of age tale, is an inviting story about rural life in Arkansas. Like his legal thrillers, A Painted House is filled with interesting characters in a particularly Southern setting ensnared by misdeeds that cry out for justice, though Grisham’s peculiar sense of justice is often unsatisfying.

As seven-year-old Lucas Chandler introduces life on his family’s cotton farm in 1952, it’s clear that the simple life of biscuits, chores and the cotton gin will give way to worldly disruption. The drama unfolds at a slow, leisurely pace with the boy, known as Luke, as the story’s narrator. Luke, who lives with his mother, father and grandparents in an unpainted house, explains that this year’s promising cotton crop – in perpetual danger from the rains – must rely on the hard work of hired hands. In Black Oak, Arkansas, that means an unlikely alliance of Chandlers, Mexicans and those folks who descend from the Ozark Mountains called the Hill People. The Mexicans, who are dirty, poor and hardworking, present no immediate threat to Luke, who yearns to play baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals. But the Spruills from the Ozarks get off to an ominous start when they set up camp on the Chandlers’ front lawn, which serves as Luke’s private playground.

That first night, after his mother and grandmother shell peas and butter beans, as the family frets over the prospect of a good crop, Luke “sat on the steps, holding my Rawlings glove, squeezing my baseball inside it, watching the shadows of the Spruills in the distance and wondering how anyone could be so thoughtless as to build a fire on home plate.” Luke soon falls for shapely 17-year-old Tally Spruill, who makes eyes at one of the Mexicans, who clashes with her brother, Hank, a brute who knows he’s brutal. There are many long, hot days of cotton-picking, a carnival, a rising river and, as the story reaches its climax, blood is spilled, fortunes are lost, a baby is born, and Luke’s keeping more secrets than the town busybody. The plot moves slowly but steadily. A Painted House is not a legal thriller, as Grisham reminds his fans in an introductory note. The popular author applies his sense of small town law and order to create a wistful tale of youth and treachery amidst life on a farm in the Fifties. For some readers, those days gone by are best forgotten.

Luke’s grandfather Pappy is prone to such homespun wisdom as the proclamation that “women do stupid things” and the Chandlers’ notion of loyalty to family at all costs strikes the reader as more cruel than charming. It is also implausible that Luke would – or should – bear such heavy burdens. But it’s unlikely that fans will be disappointed; John Grisham is a skillful writer and he has written an evocative, if undemanding, story of the South. Originally published as the lead fiction review in the March 25, 2001, edition of the Dallas Morning News and other newspapers upon publication. Support this site; Share James Patterson tops the list of best-selling authors since 2001 - Telegraph Book news James Patterson tops the list of best-selling authors since 2001 James Patterson is the world's best-selling author and JK Rowling, who comes second in the American list, is top of the UK sales charts from 2001-2014 James Patterson, JK Rowling, Nora Roberts,Ted Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss, John Grisham; bottom: Stephenie Meyer, Dan Brown, Nicholas Sparks, Janet Evanovich and Jeff Kinney.

The best-selling authors since 2001 By Martin Chilton , Culture Editor online 11:57AM GMT 20 Mar 2014 Follow James Patterson is the world's top-selling author since January 2001 (with his biggest-selling title being 1st to Die), it was revealed in new lists based on print volume sales issued by publishing data experts Nielsen. Patterson, who will be 67 on March 22, is the author of the Alex Cross detective books and has sold more than 300 million copies since his debut, The Thomas Berryman Number, was published in 1976, the first of 130 novels. His books account for one out of every 17 hardcover novels purchased in the United States. IN NUMBERS: James Patterson: how the bestseller factory works Patterson, who last month said he was giving away nearly £1million of his personal fortune to support local bookshops in America, also writes young adult fiction and recently wrote a special short story set in London to encourage children to read as part of World Book Day .

Patterson's Middle School: How I Got Lost in London tells the story of Rafe Khatchadorian and a school trip to London, and includes mentions of Tate Modern, HMS Belfast and the National Theatre. Patterson does well in the UK as well (in sixth place). In the figures for UK volume and earnings sales, however, JK Rowling (who takes second spot in the US list) is top, her books having earned £209,722,338 in the UK since 2001. Julia Donaldson, Jacqueline Wilson, Roger Hargreaves, EL James and Jamie Oliver are also in the UK top 10. Children's authors are successful in America, too, with Dr Seuss (the late Ted Geisel), Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney and Twilight creator Stephenie Meyer all in the US top 10. The best-selling book of Dr Seuss is Oh, the Places You'll Go! which includes the lines: Related Articles Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 per cent guaranteed.) For Patterson, who already has nine books scheduled for publication in 2014, it seems success is 100 per cent guaranteed.

WORLD'S 10 BEST-SELLING AUTHORS (WITH BIGGEST-SELLING BOOK) SINCE 2001 • 1: James Patterson (1st to Die) • 2: JK Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) • 3: Nora Roberts (Red Lily) • 4: Dr Seuss (Oh, the Places You'll Go!) • 5 John Grisham (A Painted House) • 6: Stephenie Meyer (Twilight) • 7: Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) • 8: Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook) • 9: Janet Evanovich (One for the Money) • 10: Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) UK'S 20 BEST-SELLING AUTHORS BY VOLUME (WITH VALUE LISTED) 2001-MARCH 20, 2014 • 1 JK Rowling – £209,722,338 A Painted House | Bookreporter.com A Painted House by John Grisham John Grisham shows his versatility as a writer in the story of a seven-year-old boy who is privy to adult secrets

.

The conflict Luke Chandler faces is the grist of Grisham's novel. Unlike the courtroom dramas that trademark earlier books, A PAINTED HOUSE takes place in rural Arkansas in 1952, where the setting is a family's cotton farm. An only child, Luke is introduced to two migrant groups, the hill people and the Mexicans. His childhood is turned upside down when they interact with the Chandler family. The outsiders arrive in Black Oak to work in the cotton harvest for Luke's father and grandfather, who struggle to pay their bills. The hill people come from the mountains in the northern part of the state and are considered hillbillies. The low-class Spruills pitch a tent and set their camp in the Chandler front yard --- an unforgivable act, according to Luke. By contrast, the Mexicans live in the barn. One of them, Cowboy, terrifies Luke when he shows off a switchblade and the intent to use it if necessary. Conflict erupts when Hank Spruill, a hulking giant of a young man, bullies the Mexicans. Hank antagonizes everyone he meets in the small town of Black Oak. Luke witnesses one brutal thrashing that Hank gives a local boy.

The consequences of that encounter remain a dark secret the boy is forced to keep. Grisham develops a suspenseful story, characteristic of his earlier books. A PAINTED HOUSE is a tale of social ambiguities inherent in small communities. On the one side, Luke's family is financially superior to the visiting clans. But he is made to feel inferior when the malicious Hank points out that the Chandlers' clapboard house is a gray, unpainted wood. Hank boasts that the Spruill residence in Eureka Springs is painted white. Luke's love for baseball consumes him. He longs to play one day for the St. Louis Cardinals, his ticket out of the farming community. He saves his meager wages from picking cotton to buy a Cardinals jacket. However, Luke makes a choice based on friendship that will complicate his dream. Grisham's words allow the reader to become one with his characters and their surroundings. Ordinary lives become complex with tiny twists of plot. His characters come alive on the page. One cares about the outcome of each side story in the entire piece. A PAINTED HOUSE is set apart from ordinary coming-of-age stories by Grisham's artful use of sensory details.

One can hear a hissing, coiled snake, feel the chill blast of a tornado's fury and smell the stench of water-soaked cotton balls. His use of minor characters, both onscreen and off-screen, is masterful. Reference to the absent Ricky Chandler is an insight into the Korean War and its effects on a rural society. Grisham uses detail to transport his audience into a quiet community of our recent American past. And a bucket of paint becomes a symbol for new beginnings. --- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad Review II It is with complete understatement that I call John Grisham's latest novel a sharp departure from the legal thriller genre his name has become synonymous with. Inspired by events in Grisham's own childhood, A PAINTED HOUSE is the story of the Chandlers, a 1950s Arkansas farming family, as told through the eyes of seven-year-old Luke. While drama, tragedy, and injustice abound, there is not a lawyer or courtroom to be found in the entire narrative. Is this new, more literary Grisham to be taken seriously? Actually, yes.

The year is 1952, harvest season, and like other farmers in the area the Chandler family cannot harvest their cotton crop alone so they employ migrant farm workers from Mexico and the hills of Arkansas. It is not long before these people become part of the Chandler family and the larger farming community. Everyone, including little Luke, labors side by side, doing the backbreaking work required to pick 80 acres of cotton. As the season progresses, their lives become intimately entwined. Despite anger, fear, and grueling work, some manage to fall in love and continue to hope. One of the few diversions from the rigors of farm life is the ritual weekend sojourn into Black Oak --- the highlight of an otherwise tedious week. It is in town that people fall in love, fight and come together with their neighbors to discuss the weather (a topic of utmost importance to farmers.) Against a backdrop of sweltering heat, torrential rains, exhausting work, and flaring passions, Luke observes all that is going on around him and tries his best to understand the complicated circumstances in which adults find themselves.

He struggles to understand his grandparents' devotion to the precarious world of farming and his mother's dream of one day living in "a painted house" (as opposed to a run-down farmhouse), far removed from the uncertain lifestyle that farmer's lead. In this tale, Grisham paints a vivid portrait of not just farming life and the Chandlers, but of those who dream and the sacrifices they make to see those dreams reach fruition. Indeed, some of the images he brings to life will remain with the reader long after they have put A PAINTED HOUSE back on the shelf --- like that of young Luke picking row after row of cotton in the blistering sun with no end in sight, contrasted with the image of him playing baseball with the hired workers. Perhaps it's because I'm a city kid, unable to fathom a seven-year-old working in the fields for eight hours, that I find this book's imagery so compelling…though more than likely it's because Grisham's personal connection to the story aids him in making everything so felt and real. "Write what you know, " isn't that what they always say?

Grisham also does a wonderful job of developing his ancillary characters, from the proud and determined grandfather whose only hedonistic activity is listening to baseball (specifically the St. Louis Cardinals), to Tally, a young itinerant worker who risks everything to escape a life she believes holds no promise. For those Grisham devotees hesitant to read to book that does not revolve around the nefarious doings of lawyers and clients, I suggest you give A PAINTED HOUSE a try. For those who generally hate Grisham and his empire of guilty pleaures, I still suggest you give A PAINTED HOUSE a try. Far less formulaic than, say, THE CLIENT or THE CHAMBER, Grisham's first attempt at serious, literary fiction --- while still a long way away from taking home the Pulitzer --- may just surprise you. --- Reviewed by Katie Brennan John Grisham (1955–) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas Home / Browse / Grisham, John John Grisham (1955â) John Grisham is an internationally known bestselling author of legal thrillers and of one fictionalized account of his childhood in Arkansas, A Painted House .

Many of his books have been made into popular Hollywood movies. John Grisham was born in Jonesboro (Craighead County) on February 8, 1955, to John Grisham and Wanda Skidmore Grisham. At the time, his parents were helping the extended family on the cotton farm near Black Oak (Craighead County) . When Grisham was four years old, the family began following his father’s construction jobs, eventually settling in Southaven, Mississippi, though he and his four siblings came to the Black Oak farm to spend the summers with their grandparents. While much of his life has been spent outside of Arkansas, he has strong ties to northeast Arkansas. Grisham’s grandfather owned Skidmore Piano Store in Blytheville (Mississippi County) , and many of his relatives live in northeast Arkansas today. Grisham loved playing baseball and followed the St. Louis Cardinals, often listening to the games on the radio with the family when the farm chores were done. He attended Northwest Junior College in Senatobia, Mississippi, and Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, to play college baseball.

At Mississippi State University, he became a serious student, graduating with a BS in accounting in 1977. Grisham enrolled in law school at the University of Mississippi to become a tax lawyer, but his interest shifted to criminal law. Shortly after graduation from law school, Grisham married Renee Jones on May 8, 1981. They have two children, Ty and Shea, and live in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Oxford, Mississippi. Grisham was admitted to the state bar in Mississippi in 1981 and practiced in Southaven until 1990. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from January 1984 until September 1990. While serving in the Mississippi House, he observed a trial in the De Soto County Courthouse that changed his life. He heard the testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim. He began exploring what would have happened if the girl’s father had killed her assailants. With the trial for the storyline and Steinbeck’s clear, clean writing style as a model, Grisham wrote his first novel, A Time to Kill. Most of the writing was done before going to the office and during courtroom recesses.

Wynwood Press published A Time to Kill in 1988. It was a small printing, 5,000 copies, and received little attention beyond the mid-South. Grisham began writing his second novel, The Firm, the film rights to which were purchased by Paramount Pictures in 1990, before it was even published. Doubleday published The Firm in February of 1991, and it moved to the No. 12 spot on the New York Times bestseller list by March 17. The Firm was the beginning of Grisham’s journey to become the all-time bestselling novelist in the United States. Since The Firm, Grisham has written a novel a year and each has been a longtime feature on the bestseller lists. There are more than 60 million John Grisham books in print worldwide. They have been translated into twenty-nine languages. Doubleday and its parent company, Bartlesmann, carefully orchestrate a logistical plan to make millions of copies of the new book available worldwide on the same day.

Many of his books have been made into successful movies, including A Time to Kill, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Street Lawyer, and Skipping Christmas. In spite of Grisham’s success and fame, he has remained loyal to his roots, early friends, and supporters. His bestseller, A Painted House, published in book form in 2001, is a fictionalized account of his early days on a cotton farm. Hallmark turned the novel into one of its made-for-television movies, filming in and around Lepanto (Poinsett County) ; the farmhouse from the set is on display there. The April 14, 2003, world premiere of the movie at Arkansas State University ’s Fowler Center included a dinner that raised $170,000 in endowment funds for the Heritage Studies PhD program. In 2001, the Arkansas Library Association presented Grisham and A Painted House the Arkansiana Award, recognizing authors and books that represent a significant contribution to Arkansas heritage and culture.

In 1994, Grisham rescued the Oxford American , a financially struggling magazine devoted to covering all things Southern, through a significant investment of money. He also published A Painted House serially in that magazine in 2000, then based in Oxford, Mississippi. Although Grisham is no longer associated with it, Oxford American lives on and is published in partnership with the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in Conway (Faulkner County) . In 2006, Grisham published his first non-fiction work, The Innocent Man: Murder and Justice in a Small Town. The book centers upon the murder trial of Ronald Williamson and Dennis Fritz of Oklahoma, a trial which resulted in death sentences for them both until DNA evidence cleared their names after eleven years on death row. He and his wife also established the Rebuild the Coast Fund, raising $8.8 million for storm victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2009, Grisham published his first short-story collection, Ford County. In 2010, Grisham published his first book for younger readers, Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer; three others in the series were published over the subsequent three years.

For additional information: Best, Nancy, ed. Readings on John Grisham. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003. Hughes, Libby. The John Grisham Story: From Baseball to Bestsellers. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse Inc., 2004. Ishizuka, Kathy. John Grisham: Best-Selling Author. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2003. Weaver, Robyn. John Grisham. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1999. Mary Gay Shipley A Painted House | John Grisham A Painted House December 7, 2008 The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day. It was a Wednesday, early in September 1952. The Cardinals were five games behind the Dodgers with three weeks to go, and the season looked hopeless. The cotton, however, was waist-high to my father, over my head, and he and my grandfather could be heard before supper whispering words that were seldom heard.

It could be a “good crop.” Thus begins the new novel from John Grisham, a story inspired by his own childhood in rural Arkansas. The narrator is a farm boy named Luke Chandler, age seven, who lives in the cotton fields with his parents and grandparents in a little house that’s never been painted. The Chandlers farm eighty acres that they rent, not own, and when the cotton is ready they hire a truckload of Mexicans and a family from the Ozarks to help harvest it. For six weeks they pick cotton, battling the heat, the rain, the fatigue, and, sometimes, each other. As the weeks pass Luke sees and hears things no seven-year-old could possibly be prepared for, and finds himself keeping secrets that not only threaten the crop but will change the lives of the Chandlers forever. A Painted House is a moving story of one boy’s journey from innocence to experience. John Grisham - Biography of Best-Selling Author February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas John Grisham's Background: Grisham was raised by Southern Baptist parents and his childhood ambition was to be a baseball player.

He earned a degree in accounting at Mississippi State University and went on to law school at the University of Mississippi. What John Grisham Did Before Writing: Grisham practiced law at a small firm in Southhaven, MS for ten years, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. He also served in the state House of Representatives from 1983 to 1990. Primary Genre: Thriller fiction How John Grisham Started Writing: Grisham began writing as a hobby while he worked as a lawyer after hearing the testimony of a 12-year-old rape victim. Her words inspired Grisham to write A Time to Kill, which was published in 1988 and experienced only modest success. What John Grisham Has Written: Since 1988, Grisham has written one book per year. His breakaway success came with his second novel, The Firm. continue reading below our video Top 5 Longest Running TV Shows Although most of his novels are legal thrillers, Grisham has also written three books that break the mold, including A Painted House, Bleachers and Skipping Christmas. Check out a complete list of John Grisham's books .

John Grisham's Family Life: Grisham and his wife, Renee, have two children, Ty and Shea. They have two homes, one in Mississippi and one in Virginia. John Grisham's Charitable Work: After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast in September 2005, the John and Renee Grisham established the Rebuild the Coast Fund with an initial $5 million gift. John Grisham is also active in his church and has participated in church-sponsored mission trips. John Grisham Trivia: Grisham returned to law briefly in 1996, representing the family of a man killed in a railroad accident. According to Grisham's official Web site , Grisham built six ballfields on his property that host 26 Little League baseball teams.

Question: Which best-selling author wrote the novel 'A Painted House'?
Answer: John Grisham